Hi all, forgive me if this is a double post but it shut down on me as I was posting the last one...
I replaced my 275/40/20 Pirellis with General Grabber AT3 275/45/20's a while ago to give better performance off road and also a softer ride, but when hitting puddles on the gutter side, it makes the vehicle unsteady and want to twist. I don't remember the Pirellis were so bad, so is it a feature of the Grabbers? It really is painful having a super mini up my a**e on twisting roads in the wet... Anyone any ideas on Grabbers? Is there a better alternative?

Buy a supermini? 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I'm running 255/55/19 AT3 on my SDV6 and can't say I've noticed the same problem. I had them briefly on my previous TDV8 and didn't notice the issue then either.

I can say that now they're worn to less than 50%, they are a bit more slippy in the wet - I have had a couple of power understeer moments but the vehicle stayed poised in the midst of it.

Otherwise, the AT3 has been a decent tyre in all conditions.

How are your front bushes? 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

i went the same way with mine and i can say its not as stable as it was on the 40 series hannkook's that were on there in the wet

Thanks Tim, I see you have gone to a super mini!
RRSTDV8 - thanks, yours are similar tread but a bit narrower so maybe just the width. Bushes okay, but another possible issue not linked to this...on cornering to the right at anything over 40mph there is increased drumming road noise - is that possibly a bearing gone? Or simply the heavy Grabber tread somehow making a different road noise on corners? Cornering left doesn't seem anything like as noisy. It's going in for a service in 2 weeks so any thoughts welcome

Thanks Geoff - seems we pay for the better mud grip with worse water clearing ability

There is a lot in the name All Terrain - it is a compromise and there is no way it will out perform a road tyre on the road. I ran my 2015 RRS on 22” OEM Pirelli’s that really surprised me how hard it was to get stuck offroad on them, especially as they were a 100% Road tyre, I never found their limit in deep mud or water as I had more fear of doing expensive damage to the electronics/ body panels than find their grip limit......
I would say that you are expecting too much of a compromise tread pattern tyre to expect to keep up with any sort of sporty small FWD car in the wet. I run my Defender on BFG MT’s......... they are lethal on icy roads and hopeless on very wet roads with standing water taken at speed (well Defender type high speeds.......). If we get a snowy or icy forecast and I’m going to use the 90 I change over to the set of BFG AT’s that I have as a winter/ offroad tyre, but it still isn’t nice to use them in standing water on road. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

I've got AT3s on mine and have done just over 20k miles, perhaps more & I would say there is still plenty of tread left, just a slight bit of wear visible on the inside edges of the fronts compared to the rest. I love a bit of spirited back road driving and being Wales, its often very wet but I would have to say I've not come across or been aware of the issue the OP refers to.

I did have a problem earlier in the year with the traction control kicking in on the n/s when on right hand corners, even at moderate speed. That was down to 2 worn rear wheel bearings, so worth looking into maybe.

My AT3s hang on surprisingly well in Dynamic mode. Can really carry speed in corners. Always governed by visibility than grip on the road. Certainly wouldn't need any more cornering grip in an SDV6. They're All Terrains but they feel very good on road.

I would say that a rumbling on one lock but not the other is indicative of a wheel bearing failing. Whether that would cause your issue I don't know. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Thanks all, I reckon that by looking at your vehicles, all but Geoffsnook are on 255's which are 20mm narrower than Geoff & my 275's. That means nearly 2 more inches on the road which is fine in the dry but as Tim says, in off road tread it might explain the worse wet handling due to worse water clearance that Geoff & I get.
Yes RRSTDV8 I reckon a bearing too. Will get it checked

Hi Tim,

I have the 275/45 AT3's on mine and have used them for just over a year and 35k miles. whilst i have recently noticed a minor deterioration in the wet handling i am not experiencing anything that you are describing.

Thanks PC, interesting yours seems okay. I will ask the garage to look at it all in a week or so when in for service. Being of farming stock I'm used to handling vehicles in all conditions, but it's really pretty scary when one side hits an extended puddle at anything over 50mph I'm putting it down to the extra tyre width at the mo...

I used to run the AT2 version of these, not on a RRS,
and found that they were a little loose in the wet on tarmac,

I always look at the Euro ratings on the label when looking for tyres..

Fuel economy - I basically ignore as this is pointless on the cars I drive,
Wet Grip - means a lot, so I won't buy anything worse than a C rating
Noise - is just a guide, nearer to 70 the better,,

AT2 = E/B 75db
AT3 = F/E 73db

As the AT2 was a bit loose on tarmac I would look for something else other than the AT3..

But its all personal choice.. ===========================================
2012 Range Rover Sport Autobiography 3.0 SDV6 8 speed Automatic
Indus Silver with Hockenheim premium two-tone leather Ebony/Lunar,

Last edited by Autobiography1969 on Wed Nov 07 2018 11:10pm. Edited 1 time in total

All Terrain tyres all generally do badly on the EU tyre labels because the tyre label system is designed for road cars driving on tarmac i.e. the majority of drivers. By All Terrain, I mean tyres with the more open agressive tread design with deeper tread block depths etc. such as the Grabber AT, Grabber AT3, Pirelli All Terrain Plus, Goodyear Duratrac, Goodyear All-Terrain Adventure. These are usually in the E / E / 72 type range on the EU labels. I guess that's down to the construction and specific rubbers used.

Having driven both the Grabber AT and the Grabber AT3, I''ve never had particular issues in the wet but the AT3 is the better tyre. Neither is as good as a full road tyre in maximum braking, but then one would expect that. 2012 SDV6 - it's missing a couple of cylinders
2008 TDV8 - it was a labour of love and is much missed

Thanks AB1969, I hadnt checked out the codes before, but will next time.
Agreed RRSTDV8 regarding road use & braking. It's the dispersal of water at speed that concerns me I guess